Unit lock dead bolt actuator slide



Nov. 11 1969 F. J. RUSSELL ET 3,477,755

UNIT LOCK DEAD BOLT ACTUATOR SLIDE Filed Dec. 8, 1966 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 F250 J. RUSSELL 1206512 I NOL/N I N VENTORS BY l/am-eM ID. My

A RN EV ,Nov. 11, 1969 F. J. RUSSELL ETAL 3,477,755

UNIT LQCK DEAD BOLT ACTUATOR SLIDE Filed Dec. 8, 1966 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 I3! 47 4e 51 I8 50 1 \s j; 34 F .52. 131+ 4 I0 I 5a 45 M a8 6 I Me I l L E 23 n I J F250 J. RUSSELL 5 J; NOL/N R I NVENTORS l/ww 3.

ATTORNEY United States Patent U.S. Cl. 292-229 3 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A door lock containing both a latch bolt and a dead bolt reciprocatably mounted in the frame. There is a relatively flat slide reciprocatably mounted in a pair of parallel tracks in the frame, and a lever having a pivotal connection to the dead bolt at one end and to the slide at the other end serves to drive the dead bolt to extended position when the slide is moved outwardly by two simultaneously acting rotating cams in response to manipulation of a handle. The tracks are offset laterally with respect to the dead bolt, and the lever has opposite ends offset with respect to each other in interconnecting the slide with the dead bolt. There is a stop pin on the latch bolt which is engaged by the slide when the slide is in the position extending the dead bolt outwardly, thereby to deadlock the latch bolt by action of the slide.

The invention here under consideration, although pertaining to door locks, is especially directed to locks customarily identified as unit looks or unit type locks. Locks of this kind are characterized in part by being so constructed that they fit into a cutout at the edge of the door where the cut is made entirely through the door from one face to the other. One characteristic invariably attributed to unit locks is that of a high degree of security and ruggedness.

In the modernization and improvement of unit type locks, changes in the mechanism need to be in keeping with the character of the lock and must enhance the attributes of ruggedness and security. Changes, however, must still be such as to keep the structure on a commercially competitive basis.

One of the features to which the present invention is directed is that of a dead bolt and its operating mechamsm.

Among the objects of the invention, therefore, is to provide a new and improved unit lock which incorporates an especially advantageous mechanism for moving the dead bolt between retracted and extended positions.

Another object of the invention is to provide a new and improved unit lock and an appropriate actuating mechanism for a :dead bolt wherein resort is had to a positively guided sliding member for moving the dead bolt between deadlocking position and released position.

Another object of the invention is to make use of a slide member which actually forms part of the train of actuation from a dead bolt cam to the dead bolt itself, the slide being so mounted as to serve also as a guide, thereby to improve the smoothness of action of the moving parts.

With these and other objects in view, the invention consists in the construction, arrangement and combination of the various parts of the device, whereby the objects contemplated are attained, as hereinafter set forth, pointed out in the appended claims and illustrated in the accompanling drawings.

In the drawings:

FIGURE 1 is a side perspective view of the unit lock of the invention shown mounted in a door.

FIGURE 2 is a plan view of the unit lock taken on the line 2-2 of FIGURE 1 with one side broken away showing the dead bolt in retracted position and the latch bolt extended.

FIGURE 20: is a view similar to FIGURE 2 showing both the dead bolt and the latch bolt in extended position.

FIGURE 3 is a longitudinal view partially broken away, taken on the line 3-3 of FIGURE 2, with the dead bolt in retracted position.

FIGURE 4 is a view similar to FIGURE 3 showing the dead bolt in extended position.

FIGURE 5 is a fragmentary cross-sectional view taken on the line 55 of FIGURE 4.

FIGURE 6 is cross-sectional view on the line 6-6 of FIGURE 4.

In an embodiment of the invention wherein the structural form and relationship of the parts provides a characteristic illustration of the invention, there is shown a unit lock indicated generally by the reference character 10, mounted in a door 11 in a cutout 112 which extends inwardly from a door edge 13. The unit lock 10 is mounted in a frame 14 consisting of side plates 15 and 16 and edge plate 17, end plates 18, only one of which is shown in the drawings, and a rear plate 20. A mounting plate 21 for one side of the unit lock 10 is shown in FIGURE 1 which helps to support a customary knob 22. The knob 22 is for manipulating a substantially conventional latch bolt 23 in the usual fashion.

Mounted in the frame 14 is a dead bolt 25 which is adapted to be locked and unlocked, or in other words, extended and retracted, by manipulation of a handle 26 attached to a lock shaft 27.

In the form of invention illustrated, the dead bolt 25 has a pivotal mounting, although an in-and-out sliding form and other forms of mounting are contemplated. In the edge plate 17 of the frame 14 is an opening 28. The dead bolt 25 has a transverse sectional size and shape adapted to neatly fill the opening 28 but with a clearance sufficient to permit the dead bolt 25 to pass freely through the opening 28. For pivotally mounting the dead bolt 25 in the opening 28, use is made of a pivot pin 29 in an extension 30 of the dead bolt 25, there being provided a bore 31 in the frame 14 for reception of the pivot pin 29. The latch bolt 23 is similarly pivotally mounted on the pivot pin 29 in an opening 28'.

In order that the handle 26 and the lock shaft 27 attached thereto may be employed to extend the dead bolt 25 into locked or extended position, use is made of a pair of cams 32, 33 and a slide 34. The cams 32 and 33 are nonrotatably mounted upon the lock shaft 27, as for example by making the lock shaft 27 a square shaft, rotatably mounted in the side plates 15 and 16 respectively. The cam 32 is provided with a rounded end 35 and the cam 33 with a similarly rounded end 36. These rounded ends 35 and 36 are adapted to lift against flanges 37 and 38 respectively, the flanges 37 and 38 being parts of the slide 34.

In this form of the device, the slide .34 has the form of a plate including side edges 39 and 40 which are mounted in tracks 41 and 42 respectively. The track 41 is on the inside face of the side plate 15, and the track 42 is on the inside face of the side plate 16.

To interconnect the dead bolt 25 with the slide 34 in order that movement of the slide 34 may be translated to the dead bolt 25, use is made of a linakge including primarily a lever 43. At one end of the lever 43 is a pin 44 which pivotally mounts the lever 43 on the slide 34 with the assistance of a washer 45. At the other end of the lever 43 is a pin 46 which pivotally secures the lever 43 to brackets 47 and 48 which are actually part of the dead bolt 25. In the embodiment of the invention, the lever 43 is an offset lever, as shown advantageously in FIGURE 3.

To cause return of the dead bolt 25 from an extended position to a retracted position, there is provided a spring 50. A spring keeper 51 is attached to one end of the spring 50 and is also secured by use of the pin 46 to the same brackets 47 and 48 of the dead bolt 25 which is employed to attach the lever 43 to the dead bolt 25. The spring keeper 51 accordingly is free to swing through a limited convenient arc, pivoting about the pin 46 as need be. At the other end, the spring 50 is attached to a recessed portion 52 of the lock shaft 27, thereby to provide a stationary support for the spring 50, or in other words, to fasten the spring 50 to the frame 14 as a stationary portion of the unit lock 10.

The pin 46, when it engages the underside of the edge plate 17, limits outward movement of the dead bolt 25. Similarly, a stop pin 49 on the latch bolt 23 limits outward movement of the latch bolt 23. Shown in part is a conventional tailpiece 59 and spring 60 for the latch bolt 23.

In operation, it can be assumed that the dead bolt 25 is in the retracted position shown in FIGURES l, 2, and 3. In this position, the cams 32 and 33 are rotated by the lock shaft 27 so that long edges 53 and 54 respectively of the cams 32 and 33 lie in engagement with the respective flanges 37 and 38, as shown advantageously in FIG- URES 2 and 3. The flanges 37 and 38 are pulled into this position by action of the spring 50 through the agency of the pin 46, the lever 43, the spring keeper 51, and the pin 44.

To extend the dead bolt 25, the handle 26 is rotated, as viewed in FIGURES 1, 3, and 4, in a clockwise direction. This motion likewise rotates the cams 32 and 33 from the position of FIGURE 3 to the position of FIGURES 2a and 4. During this rotation, the cams 32 and 33 bear against the respective flanges 37 and 38, the flanges 37 and 38 serving in this instance as camming surfaces. Motion, as described, moves the slide 34 in the tracks 41 and 42 outwardly toward the edge plate 17. Because the lever 43 is attached to the slide 34 and the dead bolt 25, the lever 43 is moved outwardly as the slide 34 is moved outwardly, and this causes the dead bolt 25 to rotate about the pivot pin 29, as viewed in FIGURES 2 and 2a, in a counter-clockwise direction, the dead bolt 25 moving from the position of FIGURE 2 to the position of FIG- URE 2a. At completion of rotation, the handle 26 and the cams 32 and 33 occupy the positions of FIGURES 2a and 4. End areas 55 and 56 respectively of the earns 32 and 33 rest against the flanges 37 and 38 respectively, which are flat, and this relationship tends to hold all of the parts in the positions of FIGURES 2a and 4, so that the dead bolt 25 is secured in extended position, despite tension being built up in the spring 50.

In this relationship, and as viewed in FIGURE 5, an end edge 58 of the slide 34 underlies the stop pin 49 on the latch bolt 23 and in this manner maintains the latch bolt 23 in extended position as long as the dead bolt 25 is in extended position.

When the dead bolt 25 is to be retracted, the handle 26 is rotated in a reverse direction, counter-clockwise as viewed in FIGURE 1, causing a corresponding counterclockwise rotation of the lock shaft 27 as viewed in FIG- URES 3 and 4. By this operation, the cams 32 and 33 are rotated counter-clockwise from the position of FIGURE 4 to the position of FIGURE 3. When this happens, the spring 50 draws the dead bolt 25 from the extended positions of FIGURES 2a and 4 to the retracted positions of FIGURES 2 and 3. By the same motion, the end edge 58 on the slide 34 is removed from engagement with the stop pin 49 and the latch bolt 23 is then free to be withdrawn by the usual means.

In order to make the operating parts easy to manipulate, the earns 32 and 33 maybe made of a low friction material such as one of the commercial varieties of synthetic plastic resin, nylon being typical, inasmuch as this, as a practical matter, is more expedient than making the flanges 37 and 38 of low friction material. In the form of invention described, the cams 32 and 33 resist forcing of the dead bolt 25, which is the action which would take place if an attempt were made by unauthorized persons to depress the dead bolt 25 with a special tool. The mass of material of the cams 32 and 33 provides a very effective blocking expedient. Inasmuch as the slide 34 and flanges 37 and 38 may be made of rugged, metallic material, as may also be the lever 43 and the pins 44 and 46 which are employed to mount it in place, a rugged, easily operating mechanism is built into the dead bolt structure.

Having described the invention, that is claimed as new in support of Letters Patent is:

1. In a unit type lock, a frame, said frame having an opening therein, a dead bolt movably mounted in said opening, a slideway in said frame extending inwardly from said opening, a slide slidably mounted in said slideway and an offset driving and retracting connection between said slide and said dead bolt, said slide being spaced laterally from and out of alignment with said opening, said slide having a longitudinally reciprocating movement in said slideway whereby to move said dead bolt in a path of movement through said opening, said connection having movable attachments respectively to said slide and said dead bolt at fixed locations thereon, whereby when said slide is in extended position said dead bolt is held in extended position, a lock shaft pivotally mounted on said frame and having a radially extending cam arm thereon, a rigid transverse shoulder on said slide, said cam arm having a rotatable driving engagement with said shoulder while said dead bolt is being moved outwardly and an endwise engagement with said shoulder in outermost position whereby to lock said dead bolt in said outermost position.

2. In a unit type lock, a frame, said frame having an opening therein, a dead bolt movably mounted in said opening, a slideway including spaced parallel tracks on opposite sides of said frame extending inwardly from said opening, a slide having opposite sides thereof extending along the length of said slide and slidably mounted in said tracks and a driving and retracting connection be tween said slide and said dead bolt, said slide being adapted to move said dead bolt in a path of movement through said opening, said connection comprising a lever having a pivotal connection at one end to said dead bolt at a fixed location on said dead bolt and a pivotal connection at the other end to said slide at a fixed location on said slide intermediate opposite ends of said side, whereby when said slide is in extended position said dead bolt is held in extended position, a lock shaft pivotally mounted on the frame and having a radially extending cam arm thereon, a rigid transverse extension on said slide, said cam arm having a rotatable driving engagement with said extension while said dead bolt is being moved outwardly and an endwise engagement with said extension in outermost position whereby to lock said dead bolt in said outermost position.

3. In a unit type lock, a frame, said frame having an opening therein, a dead bolt movably mounted in said opening, a slideway in said frame extending inwardly from said opening, a slide slidably mounted in said slideway and connected with said dead bolt, said slide being adapted to guide said dead bolt in a path of movement through said opening between extended and retracted positions, a latch bolt movably mounted on said frame and adapted to be moved to extended and retracted positions, shoulder means on said latch bolt and shoulder means on said slide in alignment with said shoulder means on the latch bolt, said shoulder means being in engagement in an outward position of said slide whereby to inhibit retraction of said latch bolt when said dead bolt is in extended position.

(References on following page) References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS Niles 292-222 Sh-aw 292-92 Ross -1 292-182 White 292-177 X Kubik 70-107 X 6 3,129,968 4/1964 Graham 292-229 X 3,254,518 6/ 1966 Tucker 70-107 MARVIN A. CHAMPION, Primary Examiner 5 R. L. WOLFE, Assistant Examiner US. Cl. X.R. 

